Why it’s time for Rangers to make change on Fox-less power play
Looks like the New York Rangers are ready for a new power-play strategy. The one they’re using in the wake of defenseman Adam Fox’s injury isn’t working.
Fox, who quarterbacks New York’s top power-play unit, sustained a left-arm injury on Nov. 29 that landed him on long-term injured reserve. In his absence, coach Mike Sullivan opted to use a five-forward setup with the No. 1 power-play group, with their top scorer, left wing Artemi Panarin, running the show.
The 2021 Norris Trophy winner and a 2023 finalist was tied for the Rangers scoring lead with Panarin at 26 points when he landed on LTIR. Fox has resumed skating, but is expected to miss several weeks.
His absence brought the power play to a crashing halt.
The Rangers were 0-for-3 and allowed a short-handed goal in a poorly played 3-0 road loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. In the five games since Fox’s injury, the Rangers are 0-for-11 with the extra man and have a total of 14 shots on goal. Without Fox, the Rangers are out-scored 1-0 on their own power play.
“It’s one goal,” center Vincent Trocheck said about Louis Crevier’s shorty 7:08 into the second period that gave Chicago a lead it never relinquished. “We have a ton of game left. We can’t let that happen. That’s on us.”
Sullivan changed his power-play strategy during the game, moving rookie Scott Morrow into the quarterback role, and said afterward that he’s junking the five-forward approach, at least for now.
“They showed us enough to stay with it for as long as we have, but they showed us enough to make a change,” he said after the loss. “We put a defenseman up there. I’m not sure what we’re going to do moving forward, but obviously Fox is not an easy guy to replace.”
Rangers look for answers to Fox-less power-play issues
That’s an understatement. The Rangers were 13-for-61 (21.3 percent) on the power play in 27 games with Fox but have yet to score without him. He has a point on eight of the 13 power-play goals.
It’s also a big change from what Sullivan touted after practice Tuesday.
“I think the guys have done a really good job,” he said then. “We are competing hard. … I think the guys that have stepped in have done a really good job, just as far as bringing what they bring and not trying to do too much, playing within themselves, defending hard. So, we’ll continue to work at it.”
Morrow is likely to be the quarterback when the Montreal Canadiens come to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Though the 23-year-old has just one assist in nine games with limited opportunity this season, Morrow is a skilled puck distributor with a good shot from the point. He is more of an offensive defenseman, and had 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 52 games as a rookie pro with Chicago of the American Hockey League last season, when he was an AHL All-Star.
Of course, there’s the question of how often he’ll get to fill that role because of the Rangers inability to draw power plays in the first place.
They’ve had just 72 opportunities in 32 games, an NHL-low 2.25 advantages per contest. In the five games without Fox, that average is 2.20 – including the 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, when they didn’t have a single power play. They have more than three power plays in a game just three times this season.
Of their three man-advantages against the Blackhawks, two came in the final 13 minutes of the third period — after Chicago took a three-goal lead. They had all of one shot on goal in six minutes with the extra man, matching the Blackhawks total shorthanded.
Captain J.T. Miller said his team wasn’t very good with or without the extra man.
“They outcompeted us and outexecuted us,” Miller said. “We had trouble getting on the inside. It’s hard to score when you’re on the outside on the O-zone. They’re a man-on-man team. They kept us on the outside most of the night, created a lot of turnovers and defended well.”
The Rangers lived by the power play in 2023-24, scoring on 26.4 percent (65-for-246) of their opportunities when they won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL regular-season champion. They dropped to 17.6 percent (37-for-210) last season, when they missed the playoffs, and are on pace for just 34 PPGs and 185 attempts this season. Those are numbers that could well keep them out of the postseason again.
